Is That It?
by Skrazzie
Summary: It was when Rachel finally gave up on them, that Quinn realized she couldn't lose her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own nothin'.

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><p>"Rach"<p>

Rachel Berry looked up with a frown, because that definitely was not her girlfriend's voice.

"You can't be serious." Rachel said irritably.

Noah 'Puck' Puckerman stood in front of her with his hands held up in a defensive stance.

"Don't shoot the messenger, princess. Prince charming sent me."

Rachel huffed and shot up from where she was sitting on the steps to the doors of McKinley High. Then she jabbed her index finger on Puck's nose. The boy looked down at it cross eyed.

"Two things Noah - one, Quinn Fabray is most definitely a girl and should thus be considered a princess like yours truly." She flicked her hand away for barely a second to hold out a second finger and hit Puck's nose with both. "Two, I would hardly call her charming right now."

"I thought you'd appreciate the allusion of her being a guy because you don't have a very high opinion of us and she stood you up again." Puck deadpanned, knowing Rachel would appreciate the decent wording of the sentence. And she did, if the reluctant smile on her face was any indication. Puck mentally patted himself on the back. And he'd pulled that one right out of his ass too.

Busy congratulating himself, Puck didn't realize that Rachel was talking and only caught the end of it.

"-anymore." he heard Rachel say.

Puck blinked.

"What?"

Rachel had on her wounded puppy pouting face, and it grew even more pitiful at the fact Puck wasn't even listening. Puck cursed Quinn Fabray for letting him deal with this. And for putting that look on Rachel's face in the first place.

"I said I have every right to be upset with her right now, right? She doesn't even let me know when she can't give me a ride anymore. She just sends random lackeys my way and let's them drive me home. I get no explanation. Not even an apology. This is getting old really fast." Rachel said without breathing.

Puck blinked again and then frowned.

"Who are you calling a lackey?"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"And of course that's all you heard, huh?"

"No. But I ain't no lackey." Puck grumbled. He leaned forward to grab Rachel's wheeled bag off the ground - there was no way he was wheeling the big pink shit all the way to his truck - and made his way across the parking lot. Rachel scurried after him.

"Noah I need your honest opinion right now!" Rachel hissed.

Puck threw her bag in the back seat with his backpack and slammed the door. He looked at Rachel, squinted ever so slightly before he sighed.

"Okay, _maybe _Q ranks a little higher than I do and she scares me a bit, but you're my Jewish American Princess, so I'm on your side. Always." He said, grabbing Rachel's shoulders gently, as if bracing her.

Rachel nodded at him encouragingly.

"Go on then"

"Your girlfriend hasn't been treating you right, Rach, and that ain't cool cuz you deserve way better than that." Puck said slowly, making sure Rachel understood him.

Quinn Fabray, Head Cheerleader and Head Bitch In Charge finally concluded that she really was supreme overlord - or overlady according to one Brittany S. Pierce - in McKinley High. And overlords didn't care whether their subjects minded her being gay or not because they were gonna accept it, like it or not.

Not even ten seconds into her coming out did she ask Rachel out to dinner. Because she had come out by strutting towards the short brunette, backing her to the lockers and proceeding to flirt with her with devastating success. And the entire student-filled hallway saw the display and everyone knew by the end of the day that their Queen was gay for McKinley's very female social pariah. And their opinion on her sexuality mattered as much as the dirt under her Cheerios standard running shoes.

The first few weeks were the happiest of Rachel's academic life so far. Her reputation shot up to high school royalty. Cheerios and Jocks no longer could slushie, insult or trip her in the hallways. And best of all, she got to make out with Quinn Fabray.

But it was only after a forgotten one month anniversary, four dodged dinners with the Berry men, zero attendance of her two ballet recitals, ninety-nine percent refusal to watch musicals during movie dates in the house, countless incidents of ditching for either a party or whatever it was Quinn did with her Cheerio friends and catching Quinn in the act of flirting with not-Rachel Berrys, did Rachel finally realize…

Quinn actually wasn't a very good girlfriend.

The exact moment she came to the realization was when Quinn asked(ordered) Sam to give Rachel a ride home(cuz she had stuff to do) and Rachel started complaining about Quinn and Sam had innocently said he 'understood exactly what she was feeling' reminding her he too had dated Quinn.

How dare Quinn treat her like she treated her boyfriends? Didn't Rachel mean anything to her? Was she being held in the same respect as Quinn's beards? Meaning very little respect?

The thought stung and Rachel had shared her fears with Puck, Kurt, Jesse and Mercedes. And they all agreed. Quinn was pretty bad at being someone's girlfriend.

Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. Her eyes shining with hurt. Puck rubbed her arms comfortingly until Rachel finally spoke.

"So you think…I should go through with it?" Rachel choked out. "You think I should break up with her?"

"I'm not saying that…" Puck said unsurely. "I mean, you know, it's really your decision Rachel-"

"Noah please, just give it to me straight." pleaded Rachel. Her eyes started tearing up and she pushed Puck's hands off her arms and raised her hands to rub away the tears.

Puck cursed Quinn Fabray again.

"Okay," he began "My honest opinion. I don't like you being treated this way and yes, I think, for now, Quinn isn't right for you." then very quickly added "But, you know, maybe she can change." He was only bothering to defend the blonde because she was still his friend too and mostly because Rachel loved the girl too much.

Rachel fell into his ready arms and she sobbed into his hoodie.

"I really love her Noah." she choked out.

"I know."

"Really love her."

"I know, I know." He said softly, rubbing her back.

"She-she's never told me she loves me." she whispered as if ashamed of herself for not being good enough for Quinn to love.

Puck just held her tighter and let her cry it out. She was, after all, about to do one of the hardest things she's ever had to do since that one time she finally admitted that maybe she didn't have the voice for Lady Gaga songs.

They were quiet on the way to the Berry house.

Rachel had finally calmed down enough to get into the truck. She didn't even bother taking command of his radio so he knew she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts. Rachel had said, right after they pulled out of the parking lot, that maybe she can try talking to Quinn first. Puck neither agreed nor disagreed and Rachel had just nodded to herself. After that, they just drove on in silence.

When Puck finally pulled over in front of her house and walked her to the door - cuz he he already carried her bag for her, he might as well carry it in the house for her too - he finally voice the question on his mind.

"Are you going to do it?" he asked.

Rachel shook her head.

"I don't know. Like I said. I'll try talking to her first. I'll call her and get her to come over. People keep saying relationships just need good communications. If they're so adamant about it, it must be good for something." She forced a hopeful smile on her face, Puck didn't have the heart not to return it.

"If you need anything, you know who to call." he said.

"Thank you Noah. I'll let you know what happens. Assuming I won't be overcome with emotion after tonight."

"Just remember Rach, do what's right for you." with that, Puck left.

Rachel closed the door and sighed deeply.

She headed up the stairs, turned left and went to her room.

She plopped down on her bed as if exhausted. And she was, emotionally so. Her mobile phone was clutched tightly in her right hand and she raised it above her, unsure what to do.

Depending on how talking with Quinn goes, she could either make or break them and this frightened her. She didn't want to lose Quinn.

But she had to do this.

Finally mustering the courage, she called her girlfriend.

Quinn didn't pick up. So Rachel tried again. And again. And again. And finally, Quinn answered.

"Hello?" Rachel could barely hear her over the loud music in the background. She was definitely at some party then. She never did invite Rachel to come with her to one of those.

"Quinn, can you please come over my house right now?" Rachel said firmly, mostly because she was afraid Quinn wouldn't hear.

Quinn heard and her response was immediate.

"I'm kind of busy right now Rachel." Quinn said distractedly. There was some giggling in the background and what sounded like Quinn shushing someone. The giggling halted.

"It's really important Quinn. There's something we need to talk about." Rachel insisted.

"Rachel" Quinn said in an annoyed voice. "I can't right now. We can talk another time. It's not like you won't see me in school."

"Quinn" Rachel mimicked in the same annoyed voice and she pictured Quinn's surprised face at this, "I said it's really important. I never ask you for anything Quinn. This is the first time. And I'm telling you I need to see you right now, because we need to talk."

"Why are you being like this? We talk all the damn time!" Quinn practically growled. "I'm going to hang up now, I'll see you in school."

"Quinn Fabray! If you hang up on me right now and stay at that party where I'm sure you're busy flirting with other girls, then we are through!" Rachel exclaimed before she could think, sitting up as she did so. And she realized she didn't regret it.

Quinn was quite for a few seconds before she hissed "What?"

"I'm serious. If you don't come here tonight, we're over. I'll break up with you." said Rachel.

Quinn was quiet again then she snorted.

"You won't break up with me Rachel." She said confidently. "So again, we'll talk in school."

Rachel felt frustrated and hurt and the tears started flowing again.

"I guess that's it then."

"Yeah. So tomorrow." Quinn said, sounding pleased. Obviously she interpreted 'that's it' as Rachel accepting her terms. "I'll pick you up in the morning."

Before Rachel could say anything back, the blonde already hung up.

Rachel stared at her phone in disbelief before throwing it on the floor. She planted her face in her pillows and her body wracked with sobs.

So that's what heartbreak felt like…

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><p>Quinn was running late that morning. She had a hang over and couldn't get out of bed early enough. She'd almost forgotten she was picking Rachel up that morning. Normally she could just call the brunette and let her know she couldn't drive her to school, but she was sober enough during the phone call last night to know her girlfriend was upset with her. The bluff to break up with her was enough evidence of that. So today, she was going to be a studious girlfriend until she fixed the problem.<p>

Don't get her wrong, Quinn really liked Rachel. She was beautiful, driven, a great singer and a really great kisser. She was also an affectionate, doting and perfect girlfriend. Perfect enough to get her mother Judy off her back for being, apparently, a player. She had come out to her mother before she came out to the school. Judy was surprisingly very accepting of it but there was a hitch.

"I hope that would explain your disastrous romantic life Quinnie. I felt like you jumped between, arm, boy toys, a little too much. I guess it was because of your repressed feelings? Do stop all that nonsense and find yourself a nice girl to commit to. Okay?"

So Quinn decided it was time to act on her attraction to Rachel Berry. It was surprisingly and delightfully easy to get the girl to date her. It didn't even take 10 minutes. Clearly Ms. Berry was harboring some attraction to her as well.

When Judy caught the two of them making out one evening in her room, she finally introduced her new girlfriend to her mother. Fortunately Judy adored Rachel, the '…star of your glee club, Quinnie! You never told me. You know I'm a fan!'.

It was perfect.

Judy allowed her to stay out late, thinking she was going to spend the evenings with Rachel - under the supervision of the brunette's fathers - when really, she was out partying. She never got questioned - not even by sweet, understanding and forgiving Rachel - and could flirt with as many girls as she wanted. Because she was Quinn Fabray and she wasn't one for committing.

Quinn honked the car horn twice when she pulled over in front of the Berry residence. That's how she picked Rachel up. She wanted to avoid seeing Leroy or Hiram Berry as much as she could because she wasn't exactly the best girlfriend and couldn't deal with overprotective fathers right now.

Two minutes passed and still no sign of Rachel. Quinn frowned.

Was Rachel punishing her? Forcing her to go up to the door and maybe see one of her fathers? Rachel wouldn't do that, would she?

Well the girl did send someone to a crack house.

Quinn groaned and got out of her car. She marched up to the door and knocked. There was some movement on the other side of the door before it swung open and the tall form of Hiram Berry stood in front of her with a questioning gaze.

"Quinn? What are you doing here?" Hiram asked.

Quinn cleared her throat.

"I'm here to pick up Rachel, sir." She spoke sweetly. "She's not ready yet?"

Hiram frowned in confusion.

"But Rachel already left. Didn't she tell you? Jesse picked her up a few minutes ago."

This took Quinn off guard, and her cool demeanor was shaken for a moment before quickly recovering.

"Oh right!" She exclaimed. "That was today. I got so used to picking her up in the morning I forgot she and Jesse were supposed to work on a glee assignment early today."

"Well actually she said she was going to help him out with Calculus." Hiram pointed out.

Quinn internally facepalmed.

"Yeah that too," She said as she turned. "Well I don't want to be late Mr. Berry. I'll just go now." She said quickly, jogging over quickly to her car.

She drove to school fast but sat in her car for a few minutes after she got there. Just thinking about Rachel and how she probably really did upset her girlfriend last night.

Rachel did sound really desperate to talk to her and she hung up on the girl.

Quinn started to feel a little guilty now and was determined to at least apologize to the diva.

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><p>"So since you're very single now," Jesse started.<p>

"No, Jesse. We're too much alike, too much of a diva. If we dated, the world might implode." Rachel cut in.

"Fine." Jesse muttered, pouting. Rachel smiled at him and pulled I'm in a hug.

"I love you like a brother, you know that."

"I apologize if I don't say I love you like a sister, cuz I just tried asking you out. So it's weird." Jesse said, his face scrunching up adorably that Rachel laughed, momentarily forgetting the horrible night she had where she had cried herself to sleep.

She'd managed to call Puck at some point the night before, glad she hadn't damaged her phone when she threw it. But all she could do was cry and spoke hysterically and unintelligibly that Puck understood what had happened. He'd called Jesse, Kurt and Mercedes - Rachel's closest friends to let them know, and they'd all agreed Jesse would pick the brunette up in the morning.

"Hot mama, Head Bitch at 6 o'clock." Mercedes whispered loud enough for Rachel and Jesse to hear as she approached from behind Jesse and facing Rachel.

Rachel's entire body stiffened. She wasn't ready to face Quinn. Who knew how the girl would react after last night.

Rachel felt her before she saw her but she didn't turn around.

"Rach." She heard Quinn's husky voice.

It sent shivers down her spine even in their current situation.

"She doesn't want to talk to you right now, Quinn" Mercedes stepped in.

"I'm not here to talk to you Wheezy." Quinn snarled. "I'm here for my girlfriend."

At that, Rachel turned around.

"I'm not your girlfriend. Not anymore." She said indignantly.

Quinn gave her 'the brow'.

"You're kidding right?" Quinn bit back.

Rachel stared at her determinedly after stomping her foot.

"No I most certainly am not kidding, Quinn. I gave you a choice last night and you made it clear what you chose. So we're over." Rachel said. She didn't know where all this confidence was coming from when inside her heart was aching for Quinn to fight for her.

Quinn faltered, looking dumbstruck.

Rachel really was breaking up with her?

She looked lost for a second, before her face hardened and she grabbed Rachel's arm. Rachel's protest died in her throat as she was pulled across the hall and into an empty classroom.

She was pushed inside and when she managed to straighten herself up, she looked just in time to see Quinn lock the door behind her.

"You're not breaking up with me. We're not breaking up, Rachel." Quinn said, tone unreadable.

Was she…almost begging?"

"Yes I am and yes we are." said Rachel, only sounding a quarter unsure. Quinn latched on that sliver of doubt.

"But Rachel, why? I don't want to lose you." Quinn said, softening her voice and stepping closer. She cupped Rachel's face. "What did I do Rach? I'm sorry about last night okay? I was a little drunk by then. Don't break up with me. Let me fix this."

Rachel leaned into the touch by instinct. Her eyes fluttering close at how sweet Quinn sounded. But she already had a pep talk with her friends last night. If ever Quinn wanted to get her back, then she was going to work for it. Her eyes shot open and she gazed at Quinn with a firm look.

"Quinn, what I wanted to talk to you about last night is that I'm not happy anymore with how you treat me." Rachel said slowly. Quinn was genuinely surprised at this. "It's like all we do when we see each other is make out. We never go on dates anymore. You never want to have dinner with my parents. You forgot our anniversary. You ditch me without so much as a text to give me a heads up. You go to parties all the time and never even invite me. You flirt with other girls and I know you've done more with some." She said the last part with complete hurt lacing her voice. "You make me feel like…I'm easy…cheap…unloved. And I really can't even understand why you wanted to date me in the first place. I just can't do this anymore. So yes, I am breaking up with you Quinn. And I don't think you can fix it, nor if you'd really want to."

Quinn felt the blood leave her face and she felt like she was going to be sick. Why was she feeling like this? Because she hurt Rachel so much? Because Rachel wasn't going to be her girlfriend anymore? Because she was an asshole and only realizing it now? Because she actually did care for Rachel after all? All of it, probably.

Rachel looked at her, probably waiting for any sort of response, but she was just frozen. Her mouth slightly open, ready to defend herself, but no words came to her defense. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

Rachel sighed sadly and pushed the hand holding her cheek away.

"I guess that's it then" Rachel repeated the words she spoke the night before. She stepped away from Quinn, walked pass her, and exitted the room.

She didn't look back, but she hoped to god that Quinn at least felt even a fraction of the hurt she was feeling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own it.

**A/N:** Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. It was more than I ever expected.

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><p>Santana Lopez rubbed at her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, and it was starting to burn. She was also getting disoriented from all the blinking she'd done.<p>

Quinn was pacing in front of them. She'd been at it for 15 minutes, since she kicked the other cheerios out and told Santana and Brittany to stay put.

"Ten days," Quinn mumbled to herself, almost whimpering. "I haven't talked to my girlfriend in ten fucking days."

Santana's had enough and walked over to Quinn, grabbing her to still her movements.

"Jesus Q, will you stop moving for a fucking second! You're giving whiplash!" Santana snarled. "And Berry's not your girlfriend. Remember? She dumped your cheating ass."

Quinn turned on her so quickly, Santana didn't have time to brace herself when Quinn shoved her back. Thankfully Brittany caught her before she got hurt.

"Stop it Quinn" Brittany protested softly.

"I never cheated on her."Quinn snarled at Santana. Glancing apologetically to Brittany for a moment before her eyes darted back to her Latina best friend.

Santana left the comfort of Brittany's arms to advance on Quinn.

"Just because you didn't fuck them doesn't mean you didn't cheat." Santana argued. "Groping, grinding and tonsil hockey _definitely_ counts."

"How did she even know about that, when she wasn't even there, huh?" Quinn asked accusingly.

Santana snorted.

"What, are you saying I told her?" she asked.

Quinn studied her for a moment before her eyes went to Brittany.

Brittany shook her head.

"I…Rach talked to me about it." Brittany admitted. "But she already knew. I never told her. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, Q. You shouldn't have done those things. I like Rachel." Brittany whimpered sadly.

"Puck probably told her. You forgot Berry is bros with a jock who gets invited to the same parties as you." Santana clarified. She look bored for a moment, inspecting her nails before adding cooly, "She didn't dump you just for that though. You're a sucky girlfriend in every possible way."

"I know that already! You don't have to keep reminding me!" Quinn growled, kicking one of the lockers in her anger. Santana and Brittany had never seen her like this before. Santana squinted at her, feigning confusion.

"Why do you even care? I thought you didn't even really like her." She said. "You should be celebrating. Now you're free to whore around."

Quinn opened her mouth to say she really didn't like Rachel, but she couldn't. Because that would be a lie.

She spent the first few days after the break up trying to party and flirt her sorrows away. But then she started to miss Rachel. Everytime she'd see the brunette in school, her heart ached. It didn't take long to realize just how important Rachel was to her. She'd never admitted it out loud to anyone though. Not yet at least.

She started to think back on the relationship and a lot of things became clear.

Rachel gave her this feeling of elation that warmed her up whenever they were together. The feeling made her feel beautiful and confident. But Quinn had hated that feeling. She hated that only Rachel could make her feel that way because what if she lost Rachel? What then? What would Quinn have left? It wasn't fair for Rachel to have that much power over her. So she punished the girl who cluelessly had so much hold over her.

Quinn wanted to prove to herself that she could fool around and keep Rachel at the same time. She wanted to prove to herself that she could be happy even if it wasn't with Rachel. She wanted to knock Rachel down a peg even when the brunette didn't know why. Because who was Rachel Berry to deserve Quinn's undivided attention?

Everything. She was _everything._

Quinn was sickened with herself, sickened with grief and loss and yearning. She felt awful as she recalled everything she did and all the malice behind her actions when all Rachel did was be a sweet and loving girlfriend.

Judy found her one morning in the bathroom. She'd fallen asleep against the tub after emptying her stomach the night before.

Quinn was pulled out of her thoughts when Brittany suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace and began rubbing her back.

"Shhh" Brittany whispered soothingly "It's okay to admit you love her Q. It's okay to need someone."

Quinn pulled back from the hug.

"I don't love her" Quinn lied through her teeth, fighting back her tears. "I just need her back because it's bad for my image to get dumped!"

She was still scared. She knew she loved Rachel but verbally admitting it was a whole 'nother thing. She couldn't just put her feelings out there when she wasn't even sure she could get Rachel back.

"Ay dios mío!" Santana exclaimed. "Just admit you love her! You know it. We know it-"

"Even Lord Tubbington knows it." Brittany piped up. Santana made a gesture of agreement to her.

"See? Even Lord Tubby knows it. Just fucking admit it already so we can move on and help you get your girl back!" Santana finished her statement with a light slap on Quinn's cheek.

Quinn gaped at her then at Brittany then back again.

"Y-you'll help me?" Quinn finally managed to say.

Santana rolled her eyes, then regretted it, cuz really, her eyes were hurting so bad right now.

"Of course we'll help you silly." Brittany said excitedly with a clap of her hands. "Isn't that why you called your two best friends here in the first place?"

"She just wanted an audience she could occasionally bitch on." Santana murmured.

"I'm sorry." Quinn sighed. Then she pouted. "Ten days, S! I haven't-"

"No! Don't start that shit again. I swear I will cut you." Santana bit back. "And you're the one who didn't attend glee all of last week."

If possible, Quinn's pout grew even more pitiful, or pathetic of you asked Santana.

"I thought if she doesn't see me that much, that she'll miss me, okay?" she shrugged.

Santana looked up as if asking god why he was testing her.

"I want to smack you around sooo bad right now." She hissed.

"San!" Brittany reprimanded.

"I wasn't going to do it BritBrit. But she's making it really hard to control myself" Santana nearly whined at her girlfriend.

"You can try" Quinn challenged.

Brittany quickly stepped in between them.

"No. No more fighting. Q, you're wasting time. There are a lot of sharks and dolphins in the sea, and we know Rachel likes both" Brittany said to Quinn. The head cheerleader looked at her blankly, processing that. Brittany turned to Santana, looking hesitant. "San, I think we need to tell her now."

Santana looked confused for a second before her face morphed into a shit-eating grin.

Quinn squinted at them.

"What?"

"I'll do the honors babe" Santana said to Brittany, rubbing her palm together in excitement and practically skipped over to Quinn in glee. Brittany instinctively gravitated towards her girlfriend because what they were about to tell Quinn might cause another bout of violence. "So last week, during glee…"

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><p>"Did you hear about Finn?" Kurt said, body brimming with excitement, as he sat down at the usual glee lunch table. He was joined by Mercedes, Sam, Puck and Lauren.<p>

"What about him?" Mercedes asked, popping a tot in her mouth.

"He proposed!" Kurt exclaimed.

Everyone at the table started coughing at once.

"He-" Puck wheezed. He hacked and coughed until something both fifty-percent brown, fifty-percent orange and one hundred percent gross shot out of his mouth and landed on the floor. "He what?"

"He proposed to Harmony. She said yes." Kurt was giddy. But he was more excited about the gossip than the actual news. Later he'd knock some sense into his step-brother, but right now, he must share.

"Finn's getting married?" Sam said disbelievingly.

"I didn't even know Hudson had a girlfriend." Lauren voiced out. "Get dumped by the original, date Berry Jr., makes sense." She shrugged.

"Did he get her pregnant?" Puck asked.

"No." Kurt shook his head.

Puck looked confused.

"So why? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"And Finn's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Still makes sense." Lauren said.

"Well he was talking about how all his dreams were crushed, and how he had nothing important left, that he had no future at all…" Kurt trailed off, recalling what else Finn was whining about the previous week.

"And how does that lead to 'I want to get married now, while I'm in high school, without any indication of what I'm doing for college or my future and when I couldn't possibly support a family.'?" Mercedes cut in.

"I'm wondering more about Harmony." Sam piped up as he distractedly dipped some fries from Lauren's tray in ketchup before dropping it before it could touch his mouth. He wasn't supposed to be eating anything greasy right now. His hand dropped to his abs, taking count of the packs before continuing what he was saying. "She's like Rachel right? Determined and with big dreams. Marrying Finn's just going to ruin her plans."

"I don't really know the girl well enough to find out what the hell is wrong with her. Because really, marriage? And to Finn? I love my brother. But no, just no." Kurt said with a shrug. "I'm definitely going to attempt to talk Finn out of this. It's clearly a mistake."

"Clearly." Everyone chorused just as Jesse and Rachel walked up to the table.

"Hey guys." Rachel greeted as she squeezed in between Mercedes and Puck.

"Fellow glee clubbers" Jesse greeted, then glared at Sam "Evans."

"St. James" Sam returned the non-greeting.

"Love triangles disgust me." Lauren said with a frown.

"Jesse, stop it." Rachel said warningly.

Jesse pouted at her.

"You heard her" Sam said with a grin.

Jesse glared.

"We'll see. When Rachel and I are leading a Tony award-winning show on Broadwa-"

"Seriously, shut up." Lauren interrupted.

Jesse huffed and reluctantly sat down next to Sam. He was silent for a moment before sighing dramatically.

"I'm not really mad at you." Jesse said to Sam. "I can't be because I've been, what was that word again, Puck? Brotherzoned? Yeah. I've been brotherzoned."

"That's great. I guess." Sam said unsurely. "Good for you?"

Jesse shrugged, again, dramatically.

"It's creepy to date her now that I've been brotherzoned. So I'm bowing out from this competition-"

"I'm sitting right here, Jesse" Rachel huffed. The male diva ignored her.

"-and you may pursue her all you want."

Sam beamed, looking at Rachel. Rachel smiled back with a blush.

"Thanks man. Not that I needed your permission." Sam said to Jesse. "And not that this is a competition, cuz Rach isn't some prize or object-"

"-Oh don't thank me yet." Jesse interrupted in a sing-song voice. He was looking somewhere in the distance and Sam followed his gaze.

A girl in a cheerios uniform was running really fast towards them. He realized it was Brittany. And Brittany was yelling something at them.

He couldn't hear her at first, none of them did. But when she got close enough, everyone heard her and they all turned to her in confusion.

"Oh my god. Seriously Sam. Run! She's coming for you!"

Santana entered the lunchroom but stayed by the door. She'd crossed her arms and was leaning on the door frame with a smirk.

"What are you talking about, Brittany?" Kurt asked before Sam could.

"Quinn" Brittany paused to breathe. It was a short pause but enough time for the blood on Sam's face to drain. Rachel looked curious. "Quinn knows you serenaded Rachel twice last week. And that you asked her out. She's looking for you. We lied to her and told her you were probably using the pool. You gotta hide before she remembers you have lunch with Rachel."

Rachel brought a hand to her mouth in shock. Sam just looked _really_ faint.

"Too late!" Jesse exclaimed, voice filled with glee. Because Quinn Fabray walked pass Santana, glaring at her friend once before her eyes zeroed in on the Glee table, and on Sam.

"Jesus…" Sam gasped, beginning to stand up.

Quinn saw his attempt to flee and ran for it. She reached him before he could even unhook his leg from the seat.

"Evans." Quinn's voice was dripping with venom. She grabbed the front of his shirt. "We need to talk." She pulled him towards the lunchroom door with surprising strength. Sam followed helplessly.

"Quinn! What are you doing?" Rachel spoke up, marching after her ex-girlfriend.

"Not now Rachel." said Quinn.

"Yes, now! Let go of Sam! You have no right to do this to him!" Rachel shrieked.

"He's trying to ask you out!" Quinn snarled, stopping in her tracks and turning towards Rachel.

"And we're broken up so it's none of your business!"

"It's been ten days Rachel! Ten day and you're already moving on to _him_?"

"Well from what I heard you moved on too! Three times!" Rachel screamed, tears polling her eyes. Quinn looked taken aback. First from guilt, second from Rachel finding out again, third from hurting Rachel again. "And for your information, I told Sam I wasn't ready to be in a relationship and he respects that. Release him right now! You've lost your right to do this!"

Quinn stared at her with an unreadable expression before turning a glare to Sam who gulped.

The rest of the glee club had approached them, and the rest of the student body was quiet, enjoying the show, just like Santana and maybe Jesse and Lauren.

Finally Quinn loosened her grip on Sam's shirt before completely dropping her hand to her side.

Sam jumped back to stand with the rest of the gleeks. Keeping a safe distance. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and he frowned as Jesse grinned at him. 'Not cool' Sam mouthed at him.

Rachel waited until Sam seemed safe enough before addressing Quinn again, calmly now.

"Thank you Quinn. And I hope you refrain from attacking any of my possible suitors in the future." With that, Rachel turned around, ready to go back to their table.

Before she could even take more than two steps, familiar arms wrapped around her from behind and she was engulfed by Quinn's warmth and comforting scent.

She shivered when she felt Quinn's breath on her ear.

"I'm not giving up on you Rachel." Quinn whispered in that husky voice Rachel loved. "I made a mistake, and it's never going to happen again. I swear I'll win you back."

"Q-Quinn…" Rachel's voiced quivered as different feelings swirled within her.

"I love you. Please believe that." Quinn whispered, voice dripping with so much emotion, Rachel was sure she was crying.

Quinn seemed reluctant to let her go, but finally did after what seemed like hours. It was like time had stopped the moment they touched.

The blonde backed away from Rachel slowly, yearning in her eyes as she looked at the girl she loved. Then she turned to exit the lunchroom in haste, not wanting to break down in front of all the students. Brittany and Santana trailed behind her quickly. Well Brittany did, Santana lingered a little bit to smirk at the glee clubbers before getting pulled out by Brittany.

Rachel looked back to see Quinn disappear outside the door, her chocolate brown eyes full of hope.


End file.
